These early days of the New Year have brought with them a strange and I find quite worrying debate. And then some.
The former is all to do with History, with cherry-picking what we think we liked, and with disowning what we have decided, from today’s vantage point, we don’t. It reminds me a little of the Stalinist solution to the problem – just erase, physically, from the archives any traces of differing viewpoints, and from photos any faces and bodies that have been, well, purged.
In the good old days [irony!] of the Cold War, there was a discipline called “Kremlinology” which relied on second-guessing any documentation publicly available by comparing it with previous such sources to determine what had in the meantime been going on behind the thick and high walls of the Kremlin. So, for example, who was positioned where on the stands on Red Square for the 9 May celebration of victory in World War II, the Great Patriotic War vis-à-vis the previous year? And then to check who had simply been erased from the photos of twelve months ago.
Of course, we like to think this kind of totalitarian world view and cynical manipulation of The Truth has long been overcome – after all, Stalin and his cronies have been committed to the dust heap of History themselves. But can we or can present-day Russia simply deny they existed? I don’t think so.
Fast-forward to the University of Oxford in 2016, that hallowed home of learning, of teaching, and of open exchange of differing views, all for the higher good of promoting intellectual progress and thereby advancing mankind.
To quote from their own website: “As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford is a unique and historic institution.” Indeed.
Anyhow, one of the 38 entities that make up the University of Oxford – and I don’t really have the luxury of going into how that all works here and now, but I simply can’t resist reminding you that the academic year is divided into three trimesters, sorry, “terms”, endearingly called Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity – is Oriel College.
And Oriel College has a problem right now. As does Oxford as a whole, and maybe all of us.
You see, the story is this:
British-born Cecil Rhodes (1853 – 1902), who left his home country for Southern Africa at the tender age of seventeen eventually to become a seriously wealthy businessman and politician (among other achievements, he founded the De Beers diamond empire and rose to the position of Premier of the then Cape Colony), studied at Oriel College, Oxford for two spells in the 1870s. Today, he is regarded by many as an unabashed proponent of colonialism, a white supremacist, and none less than the father of apartheid.
He was certainly an ardent patriot: “I contend that we [the English] are the first race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race.” To us, this is crossing the line from patriotism to chauvinism, by way of nationalism, but back then, his views were pretty orthodox and mainstream.
However, to complicate matters, in order to give others the same opportunity he had enjoyed, from his own funds he also launched the Rhodes scholarship program, an international post-graduate award for non-British students to go to “Oxford”. It is generally viewed as one of the most prestigious scholarships worldwide, and several of its recipients over time subsequently became heads of state or government back home – Bill Clinton (United States), John Turner (Canada), and the Australian Prime Ministers Bob Hawke, Tony Abbott, and Malcolm Turnbull.
So little surprise that there should be a statue of Cecil Rhodes over the entrance of Oriel College to commemorate the great man – or was he not so great, viewed from today’s perspectives on politics, racism, and political correctness?
Certain members of the Oxford student body think the latter and have started a campaign “Rhodes Must Fall”, literally aimed at bringing down the statue – having already succeeded with the removal of another one at Cape Town University in South Africa.
Oriel College has so far refused to oblige. They have, however, made concessions by removing a plaque commemorating Rhodes on their campus and replaced it by a sign in a window below the statue which reads: “In acknowledging the historical fact of Rhodes’ bequest, the college does not in any way condone or glorify his views or actions.” [My emphasis]
This whole controversy has received a lot of media attention not just in the UK, and while the consultation proper on the future of the statue is due to begin in February, many have felt either compelled or invited to voice their opinions. A good piece on the debate was published by the anything-but-conservative Independent on 16 January:
In the sub-heading, the newspaper states: “Oxford students should know it’s meaningless to judge the past through the prism of our own morality” which, in a nutshell, sums up my position on the issue.
The article also quotes from a speech by Lord Patten, current University of Oxford’s Chancellor, former Chairman of the BBC Trust, member of the EU Commission, and last British Governor of Hong Kong, where he oversaw its handover to China on 1 July 1997.
I admit always having had a soft spot for Chris Patten, and I will never forget the picture of him, his wife and beautiful three daughters standing at the railing of the British Royal Yacht, HMY Britannia, in the pouring rain as she sailed out of Hong Kong harbour on that historic day. Oh, and he has two Norfolk terriers called Whisky and Soda which I find pretty cool. – If interested, please read his autobiography, aptly entitled Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths About World Affairs (2005).
Anyhow, Lord Patten made his views on the matter clear by stating the university’s history was “not a blank page on which we can write our own version of what it should have been according to contemporary views and prejudices”.
Not only do I have nothing to add, it so reminds me of what my mother, a very intelligent woman who sadly passed a little over two years ago just short of her 91st birthday, often said to me: “Axel, the problem with life is you can’t live it in pencil and then erase the parts that didn’t work out so well.”
Just to give two literary examples from the same Victorian age: There’s Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936), a major innovator of the art of the Short Story and author of children’s books that have become classics. But he was also a “child of his time” and wrote these lines:
“Take up the White Man's burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go, bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait, in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.”
“The White Man's Burden” (1899)
Do we disown Kipling and banish him from the English literature’s tradition? Burn his books?
Or Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870), one of the greatest novelists of all times, not just in the English language. In The Adventures of Oliver Twist (published as a monthly serial between 1837 and 1839), his depiction of Fagin, the King of Thieves, is more than just borderline anti-Semitic. He is mostly just referred to as “The Jew”.
Does that disqualify Dickens as an author?
I don’t think so. And nor do I subscribe to the notion that universities should be “safe spaces” where young people are shielded from anything that might cause them offence, including a ban of controversial guest speakers and the prohibition of discussion on contentious issues. At the same event Patten spoke, namely the installation of the University’s new Vice-Chancellor, Louise Richardson into her post, she bravely defended “the value of engaging with ideas they [students] find objectionable”.
The Times summed it up admirably in an editorial: “There is no point in being polite about this. If students want a ‘safe space’ they should not be at university. They belong at a finishing school instead. Academic argument is not for the genteel; it is for the unrelentingly curious.” (13 January 2016)
I rest my case.
Coming back to Cecil Rhodes for a moment, and long may his statue adorn Oriel College, I can’t resist pointing out he is one of only three people in modern history to have achieved something quite remarkable – having a whole country named after them.
In chronological order:
Christopher Columbus (1450/51 – 1506)
Of Genovese origin, the Italian version of his name is Cristoforo Colombo, the Spanish version Cristóbal Colón. The country named after him is, of course, Colombia.
Cecil Rhodes (1853 - 1902)
He gave his name to Rhodesia, which today is Zimbabwe (and parts of Zambia).
Ibn Saud (1875 – 1953)
Founded Saudi Arabia in 1932 when he united the four distinct regions making up that modern-day country by a series of conquests over a 30-year period.
Have I overlooked anyone?
Of course, they weren’t just in it for the glory and an ambitious urge for nation building– at least the last two also got famously rich in the process (and yes, it does help to sit on territory that yields diamonds or oil). In the case of Columbus, he just had the bad luck of subsequently falling out with the Spanish Crown that had sponsored his voyages and therefore not getting the 10% of all profits from the New World he considered himself entitled to.
Contemporary rich people, very rich people have just in the past couple of days made the headlines big time, and in a very sensationalist way.
The timing is no coincidence as this is the season for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, annually attended by around 2,500 very important (and self-important) politicians, business leaders, scientists, and a bunch of celebrity hangers-on seeking good photo ops. Leonardo di Caprio is adorning the event with his presence this year – it can’t hurt with a view to the upcoming Oscar awards.
The WEF is a private initiative started by the German Economics professor, Klaus Schwab in Geneva in 1971. Although it still operates as a non-profit foundation, believe me, he has done very well for himself out of it. You should see their offices in Cologny, overlooking Lake Geneva.
The WEF’s mission is cited as "committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas". And once a year in January, they all descend on this little ski resort in the Swiss-German Alps to help do just that.
There has been one exception to the venue, and only one: In 2002, as a sign of solidarity with New York City following 9/11, the meeting was moved to Manhattan. That was the only time I have attended it, so I guess you could say I got lucky. I also rode an elevator with Bill Gates on that occasion.
It was quite an experience – not the scene on the lift, but the whole event. It took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel between Park and Lexington Avenues and 49th and 50th Streets. Around it, for a block in each direction, the traffic was sealed off for four days, and the building was protected by heavily armed military. Looking out the window, you felt like being under siege or quarantine, but of course it was all for our security. The good folks from the anti-globalisation scene demonstrating in the distance appreciated it less as it stole most of their thunder.
The social highlight was an evening reception on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange which closed early on the day to allow for the caterers to take over. We were transported there on buses, all the way down from Midtown to Wall Street at the Southern tip of Manhattan, and the Expressway along the East River was closed to traffic. Every 100 meters or so, U.S. military was stationed to protect our convoy. Quite spooky, more like a scene from a Hollywood movie, and only ever to be experienced once – in three words, unique, historic, and totally unforgettable.
So, returning to Davos proper. On the back of all the wealthy, powerful, high-and-mighty people getting together to discuss how to advance the State of the World (and, it is assumed, their own vested interests) for the following twelve months at least, all sorts of other interested parties use this platform to promote their own agendas, and legitimately so. It’s just too good an opportunity for media attention to miss.
One of them is Oxfam, a UK-based charity whose vow is, “We won’t live with poverty”. Every year to coincide with “Davos”, they publish a report that owes its data to work done by the Credit Suisse Research Institute and published in the previous month of October – in its sixth edition now, the Global Wealth Report, a tome of 158 pages this time around that literally cries out for synthesising, in their own words “offers a comprehensive portrait of global wealth, covering all regions and countries, and all parts of the wealth spectrum, from the very base of the wealth pyramid to ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs)”.
Nice one! I bet you didn’t know this initialism yet – and that’s what it’s called, as I just learned myself: “an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately” (e.g., BBC). As opposed to the good old acronym which you can speak as a word, such as POTUS (President of the United States).
Anyhow, the sobering piece of statistics you should take away from this exercise is that today the top one percent have as much wealth as the remaining 99 percent living on this planet.
A year ago at Davos Time, Oxfam had already predicted the one percent would overtake the rest of the world population within twelve months, and guess what, dare I say it they were right on the money! [Pun fully intended.]
If you are wondering where this leaves you, here’s a calculation that may answer the question. It takes cash and assets worth USD 68,800 (£ 48,300) to be in the top ten percent. For the elusive one percent, the corresponding number is USD 760,000 (£ 533,000). In the words of the BBC, “That means that if you own an average house in London without a mortgage, you are probably in the 1%.”
Furthermore, and even more mind-boggling I find, based on the Forbes Magazine ranking “The World’s Billionaires”, the richest 62 people in the world have as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population. What has helped accelerate this process, of course, is the strengthening of the U.S. Dollar against other, developing-world currencies. But still.
According to Forbes, unsurprisingly, the richest individual in the world is my elevator acquaintance Bill Gates of Microsoft fame whom they assess at a net worth of USD 79.2 billion. To put it in perspective, according to the Credit Suisse research on countries, he has as much wealth as the proud nation of Croatia.
Actually, it’s quite fun to visit the Forbes ranking:
As you see, this is the link to what they call the “static” version of the table – the numbers for 2015.
And then, there’s another one, the “Real Time Ranking”, on which you can follow daily the gains and losses made by the billionaires, depending on how their businesses and investments are faring as we speak. Great fun to watch!
Either way, the first thing that comes up when you go there is a quote of the day. On my last visit, it was this, attributed to 1960s American Civil Rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is – ‘What are you doing for others?’”
You just could not make it up.
So, bottom line: The richest 62 people in the world hold the same wealth as 3.6 billion people on this planet put together. In 2010, by the way, that number was still 388 billionaires needed to balance the scales or sit at the other end of the see-saw. This is what I call a clear trend. The billionaires are winning.
“Interesting”, the English would say.
Shared Number 62, by the way, estimated at a net worth of USD 15.3 billion each, are Serge Dassault of France who made his fortune in the aviation industry; and Chinese Robin Li, the owner of the internet search engine Baidu. They have to chip in to make up the equation.
But enough about them. They’re in Davos now anyway.
There are two others on the Forbes list who have recently made the headlines, and for very different reasons.
One is, of course, Donald “The Donald” Trump (born in 1946) who for the moment appears to be the leading contestant for the Republican Party’s candidacy to become the next President of the United States (POTUS). Having just now been endorsed as the Party’s nominee by none less than Sarah Palin, who’s to stop him?
Sarah Who? Yes, that’s right, the former Governor of Alaska (from 2006 to 2009) who had been selected as his running mate by Republican Senator John McCain in the 2008 Presidential election. The darling of the Tea Party Movement, she committed a number of gaffes back then, the most memorable when, questioned in the course of the campaign on her total lack of experience in foreign policy (or anything else, for that matter), she replied: “I know everything about Russia. On a clear day, I can see it from my back yard.”
Compare this to Barack Obama’s Vice President Joe Biden and count our collective blessings over the past eight years that they jointly trounced the McCain / Palin ticket.
If it makes you feel any better about The Donald, you have to scrawl a long way down the Forbes list to find him among his co-billionaires. Almost embarrassingly, he pops up at number 405 with a puny USD 4.1 billion to his name which he made in the TV and real estate industries. But still, that’s plenty to run an impactful political campaign, with or without Ms Palin’s blessing.
Both the Republican and Democratic Parties’ Primaries nomination races proper begin on 9 February, with the Caucus in Iowa which in and of itself is quite a peculiar event and gets a lot of media attention every four years, being the first. For now, in this classic example of what the Americans call a “fly over State” (as in, nobody goes there; you just cross its airspace when travelling between the East Coast and the West Coast), Trump is trailing Senator Ted Cruz from Texas. But that was before Ms Palin’s high-profile intervention of course.
The other billionaire to have gained a lot of media attention over the past week or so is Rupert Murdoch (born in 1931), the Australian-British media tycoon, who comes in at a respectable USD 13.9 billion, securing him the 77th place in the Forbes ranking.
As much as for his remarkable success as a businessman, he has always been a darling of the media – his own and his competitors’ – because of what goes on in his personal life. Three-time divorcee already, this past 11 January, at the ripe old age of 84, he placed an engagement listing in his own The Times newspaper (did he get a discount, I wonder) to announce he was bespoken to none less than Jerry Hall.
Jerry Hall, you ask? Yes, Jerry Hall, born in 1958, a former model and nowadays what competing newspaper The Observer irreverently called “rock-chick royalty” in its coverage of the news. What a great phrase! Hall’s major claim to this title is the fact she lived with Rock legend (more on this species later) Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones from 1977 to 1999 and has four children with him.
“In 2005 she discussed the sort of man she was looking for. ‘I have gone out with younger men and they’re great fun, they’ve got enthusiasm. Stamina! But I think older men are much better lovers. I don’t want to have children, because I already have four. And I don’t want to be bossed around because I’ve got my own money, you know. So it’s got to be the right person. But I do quite like the idea of having a companion.’
“But perhaps, nearing 85, Murdoch has finally found what he’s been looking for. Perhaps Hall has too. Whether or not it’s the same thing doesn’t really matter. Because on some level that’s hard to define, you just sense that they deserve each other.” The Guardian (16 January 2016)
It seems that Rupert Murdoch is becoming quite sensible and age-conscious with a view to selecting his wives. Ms Hall is his junior only by 27 a mere years, so where’s the problem?
Compare this to his previous betrothed, Wendi Deng, born in 1968, who was a Hong-Kong based Chinese-American executive in Murdoch’s far-flung media empire when they met at a company party in 1997; they married in 1999. She was a whopping 38 years younger.
Before divorcing her, two children later, in 2013 over rumours she was having an affair with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whom of course he helped get elected in the first place when his Sun newspaper came out in his support before the 1997 general elections and who is also the godfather of their first daughter (what were you thinking, Tony?), she did have her very own “Fifteen Minutes of Fame”.
On July 19, 2011, tiny Wendi Deng wrestled with Jonathan May-Bowles (comedian Jonnie Marbles) who had thrown a pie at her husband while he was giving testimony before a British parliamentary committee investigating the News of the World phone hacking scandal.
I remember watching the House of Commons Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee proceedings live on TV and was very impressed with her, less so with her spouse. Having appeared in this particular forum myself, I know how difficult it can get, and sadly, neither Rupert Murdoch nor his son James, sitting next to him, did all that well, primarily I think due to lack of preparation resulting from the arrogance of the mighty who then have a rude awakening when they find themselves in a situation where MPs, representing the Sovereign, the People, speak to them in a way that they are simply not used to from their corporate entourages.
And then, somebody comes from left-field and attacks you with whipped cream.
We have all heard of the “Tiger Moms”, Asian mothers who drill their children to do well in the Western (American mostly) education system, and you don’t want to get in their way. But this was the first time I saw a “Tiger Wife” in action. Wow! Sheer dynamite.
Rupert Murdoch, by the way, later called his testimony before that Committee “the most humble day of my life”. And I’m sure he would have felt the same way even without the pie attack.
So, Jerry Hall, what have you got to “protect your man”? And he ain’t getting’ any younger either.
On any other day, I would have found an elegant way to conclude my blog here and now.
But this is not any other day. And the adjective “young” will serve as the bridge to what follows.
Please bear with me and read on. Consider this a special edition, a two-for-the-price-of-one blog. Over the past weeks, we have prematurely lost too many seriously talented artists – musicians and actors – who in one way or another had accompanied us through the years and decades. Maybe we didn’t realise this, taking it for granted as we will, but this is a time to reflect on all the joy they have given us, and to appreciate those still in our midst all the more.
Natalie Cole, Lemmy Kilmister, David Bowie, Alan Rickman. I miss them all.
But then, in the evening of 18 January 2016 at around 22:40 local time in the UK, as I watched the evening news on TV before going to bed, I suffered a blow in the shape of “Breaking News” that I will be reeling from for a long time.
I mourn the tragic death, at age 67, of singer songwriter Glenn Frey, co-founder of the rock band, The Eagles. And I dedicate the rest of this blog to him, in fond commemoration of all the happiness he and his music have brought to my life over the past 45 years. That’s a long time.
He leaves behind his second wife, Cindy, and their daughter and two sons, Taylor (24), Deacon (22), and Otis (13).
And this is personal. Very personal. I find it hard to put in words the loss I feel. Which doesn’t happen to me all that often.
As I am writing this, of course, I am listening to The Eagles.
Please feel free to visit their website with the tribute to him:
His death seems very random, unexpected as it came. He had been taking medication for rheumatic arthritis for some 15 years which led to an inflammation of his bowel on which he was operated in December, only then to die of pneumonia in hospital. No rhyme or reason.
And for sure, he could afford the best doctors and medical care available.
One of the Eagles’ hits was “Take It To The Limit” (which, I swear, is playing right now). In their concerts, when they were about to perform it, Glenn Frey would always announce it as follows: “This next one is what our wives call ‘The Credit Card Song’.”
I will never hear that line again. And I will never see them on stage again as the idea of The Eagles on tour without their co-founder and driving force, artistic and otherwise, is anathema.
Glenn Frey, born 6 November 1948, hailed from Detroit, Michigan where his father worked on a car production line and his mother in the canteen at General Motors. He took piano lessons from the age of five, but switched to guitar ten years later after seeing The Beatles perform. A keen musician, he went to Los Angeles in 1968 because that’s where the action was in those days. He ended up with a few other unknowns as the backing group for Linda Ronstadt. Importantly, in this context he met Don Henley from Gilmer, Texas, a drummer who was destined to become his alter ego.
Check out the video, History of the Eagles (2013), a two-part, Emmy-Award winning documentary I watched (again) just before Christmas. It shows, with historical footage and retrospective interviews, how it all happened. And there is this part where Henley recounts how they got to team up:
Frey to Henley: “I wanna be in a band with you.”
Henley to Frey: “Me too.”
Frey to Henley: “But to be successful, we’ll have to write our own songs.”
Henley to Frey: “What if we’re bad?”
Well, they weren’t, and Henley later credited Frey with creating their unique sound: “We gave Glenn a nickname, the Lone Arranger. He had a vision about how our voices could blend.”
The Eagles became one of the biggest rock acts ever, and the most successful in the Seventies. I won’t bore you with statistics, but Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975), released in 1976, was the best-selling album of all time, only to be surpassed eventually by Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982). Their subsequent success with Hotel California (1976) made The Eagles the only act in history to appear twice in the sales charts of the world’s top ten albums ever.
All in all, The Eagles sold 150 million records. They remain the fifth-highest-selling music act and the highest-selling American band in history.
I had the good fortune to see The Eagles perform live maybe half a dozen times – alone, with friends, and, importantly, with my family. The last time was in Cologne, Germany, in the summer of 2011 during their “Long Road Out of Eden” tour (2008 – 2011).
My kids will always remember this as their Dad’s favourite music. And guess what, “Hotel California” and many others of their songs will still be played for a long, long time to come.
The Eagles broke up in a very acrimonious manner in 1980. If interested, please google “The Long Night at Wrong Beach”. Don Henley famously said at the time they would only reunite “when Hell freezes over”.
In 1994 they got back together again. They went on a sold-out tour followed by a live, chart-topping album entitled – Hell Freezes Over. From that time on, in concerts Glenn Frey would always say: “The Eagles never broke up. We just took a 14-year vacation.”
Another line I will never hear again.
Which brings me to regrets.
Remember Frank Sinatra’s song, “My Way” (1969):
“Regrets, I have a few / But then again, too few to mention.”
I’ve been fortunate in the same way in my life so far. But I will list three, in ascending order:
Number Three
After graduating from University and before starting my first job, I had six months to myself which I should have spent “travelling the world”. I didn’t. I felt I had to finish a football season instead. OMG.
Number Two
On 25 May 1983, the only football club I will ever support, Hamburger SV (HSV) played the European Champions’ Cup Final (the precursor to today’s Champions’ League) in Athens, Greece against the apparently invincible Juventus Turin. Although I could have made the time, afforded the trip, and in those days getting tickets for such games was still very easy, I did not go, out of sheer complacency, watching the game on TV instead. Well, we won 1-0, the greatest success in the club’s history ever, and I wasn’t there.
Number One
On 18 November 2014, my youngest daughter Greta, at the time a senior year student at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, turned 21. This is a big deal anywhere, but especially in the United States as it marks the legal drinking age. On that same day, The Eagles were playing in Las Vegas. The following night, I could have got tickets for the Cirque du Soleil show, Love, featuring the music of The Beatles at the MGM Grand, something I’d been wanting to do for many years. What a double whammy! I was planning to fly her in from Charlotte and meet up in Las Vegas with her parents for a few memorable days. Again, for reasons I now do not even recall, I didn’t do it.
I will see the Cirque du Soleil show for sure one day.
But I will never get the opportunity again to buy my Princess her first drink – at a bar in Las Vegas.
And I will never be able to see The Eagles in concert ever again.
Life is short. Make the most of it while you can. Please.
Among the best lines of any rock or pop song ever are those to “Take It Easy” (1972), co-written by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey.
The former – a musician friend of The Eagles best known for his songs “The Pretender” (1976), “Running On Empty” (1977), “Somebody’s Baby” (1982), and “Lawyers In Love” (1983; what an intriguing notion) – came up with the first two rhyming lines, but then got stuck. It was Frey who completed the verse and wrote the rest of the lyrics. Maybe his provenance from The Motor City helped with the inspiration. Anyhow, the song was the band’s first-ever single, off their debut album, Eagles:
“Well, I'm a standin' on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
Such a fine sight to see
It's a girl my Lord
In a flat-bed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me”
“Well, I'm a standin' on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
Such a fine sight to see
It's a girl my Lord
In a flat-bed Ford
Slowin' down to take a look at me”
Winslow, Arizona is located in Navajo County. The last census I could find dates back to 2010, quoting the population at 9,655.
And guess what, at that intersection there is a statue (another one, but not disputed – your link to the first half of this blog) and a mural.
And in the late evening of 18 January 2016, I decided to go there one day. No more regrets.
Glenn Frey was a multi-talented artist – a creative song writer with a knack both for melodies and lyrics; a wonderful singer with an unmistakable voice that underpinned the harmonies of the characteristic Eagles sound; and an accomplished guitarist who held his own alongside the likes of juggernaut Joe Walsh.
During the “14-year vacation”, Glenn Frey had a successful solo career, producing five studio albums. His last, After Hours (2012), except for the title song, consisted of cover versions of pop standards from the 1940s through the 1980s.
Frey wrote and recorded songs for the Eighties cult TV series Miami Vice, where he also appeared as an actor in four separate episodes. He equally contributed to the sound tracks of two absolute movie classics: For Beverly Hills Cop (1984), starring Eddie Murphy, “The Heat Is On”; and for Thelma and Louise (1991), directed by Ridley Scott and starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis (and a very young Brad Pitt in the role of JD, a one-night stand for Thelma / Ms Davis), “Part of Me, Part of You”.
And if ever you watch (again) the immensely enjoyable film about a sports agent, Jerry Maguire (1996), directed by Cameron Crowe and starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding, Jr. (“Show me the money!”), and Renée Zellweger, watch out for the character Dennis Wilburn, Manager of the Arizona Cardinals football team, played by, you have guessed it, Glenn Frey.
So – since I’m sure you’ve been waiting for it and I don’t want to duck the challenge, here are my favourite songs from the body of work Glenn Frey has produced.
Solo Top Three:
Number Three: “You Belong to the City” (1985), Miami Vice soundtrack
Number Two: “The Heat Is On” (1984), Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack
Number One: “Smuggler’s Blues” (1984), Miami Vice soundtrack
And my personal Top Ten of Eagles songs, which I simply can’t bring myself to rank, so in chronological order:
“Peaceful Easy Feeling”, Eagles (1972)
“Take It Easy”, Eagles (1972)
“Desperado”, Desperado (1973)
“Lyin’ Eyes”, One of These Nights (1975)
“One of These Nights”, One of These Nights (1975)
“Take It to the Limit”, One of These Nights (1975)
“Hotel California”, Hotel California (1976)
“Life in the Fast Lane”, Hotel California (1976)
Disclosure: The opening guitar riff is the ringtone on my iPhone.
“New Kid in Town”, Hotel California (1976)
“The Long Run”, The Long Run (1979)
Disclosure: Contains, in a nutshell, my life motto.
“When it all comes down / We will still come through / In the long run”
“Peaceful Easy Feeling”, Eagles (1972)
“Take It Easy”, Eagles (1972)
“Desperado”, Desperado (1973)
“Lyin’ Eyes”, One of These Nights (1975)
“One of These Nights”, One of These Nights (1975)
“Take It to the Limit”, One of These Nights (1975)
“Hotel California”, Hotel California (1976)
“Life in the Fast Lane”, Hotel California (1976)
Disclosure: The opening guitar riff is the ringtone on my iPhone.
“New Kid in Town”, Hotel California (1976)
“The Long Run”, The Long Run (1979)
Disclosure: Contains, in a nutshell, my life motto.
“When it all comes down / We will still come through / In the long run”
And then, there’s the final song on the second record of the last studio album The Eagles released, Long Road Out of Eden (2007). It debuted at number 1 in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, and Norway. Prophetically, Don Henley said to CNN: “"This is probably the last Eagles album that we'll ever make."
That song is entitled, “It’s Your World Now”:
“A perfect day, the sun is sinking low
As evening falls the gentle breezes blow
The time we shared went by so fast
Just like a dream we knew it couldn't last
But I'd do it all again if I could somehow
But I must be leaving soon, it's your world now
It's your world now, my race is run
I'm moving on like the setting sun
No sad goodbyes, no tears allowed
You'll be alright, it's your world now
Even when we are apart
You'll always be in my heart
When dark clouds appear in the sky
Remember true love never dies
But first a kiss, one glass of wine
Just one more dance while there's still time
My one last wish, someday you'll see
How hard I tried and how much you meant to me
It's your world now, use well the time
Be part of something good, leave something good behind
The curtain falls, I take my bow
That's how it's meant to be, it's your world now
It's your world now, it's your world now”
“A perfect day, the sun is sinking low
As evening falls the gentle breezes blow
The time we shared went by so fast
Just like a dream we knew it couldn't last
But I'd do it all again if I could somehow
But I must be leaving soon, it's your world now
It's your world now, my race is run
I'm moving on like the setting sun
No sad goodbyes, no tears allowed
You'll be alright, it's your world now
Even when we are apart
You'll always be in my heart
When dark clouds appear in the sky
Remember true love never dies
But first a kiss, one glass of wine
Just one more dance while there's still time
My one last wish, someday you'll see
How hard I tried and how much you meant to me
It's your world now, use well the time
Be part of something good, leave something good behind
The curtain falls, I take my bow
That's how it's meant to be, it's your world now
It's your world now, it's your world now”
On 29 July 2015, The Eagles played the last concert of their two-year “History of The Eagles” Tour in Bossier City, Louisiana.
On 18 January 2016, Glenn Frey died in a hospital in New York City.
Yep, Glenn, it’s our world now. But sadly, it will never quite be the same again.
Thank you for the music, the moments, the memories.
